What shocks for daily driving comfort?
06-16-2006, 11:15 PM
#1
What shocks for daily driving comfort? Ok, here's what I am looking for: shocks for my car. Ride height will stay stock. Sway bars are stock for now but will eventually be Sam Strano's combo - I'll use the sways to reduce body roll. I want controlled suspension compliance. This car is a high speed commuter/cruiser but does shoot through corners assertively when conditions permit. I'd like the car to ride better than the cheap, big-engined beast that it is. I am settled on one of the three standard answers: Bilsteins, revalved Bilsteins, or Koni SAs. This car will never see AX and no more than a handful of drag passes in its life, if any. I want improved everything - with an emphasis on comfort. I know all 3 are dramatic improvements over stock in every way. You can see my other chassis mods in my sig (wish I'd done shocks first, though I felt each one of these). What kind of improvements are noticeable stepping between the usual best 3 options? I've got the foundation and stiffening of this car taken care of and am ready to feel the maximized results of shocks, the weak link on these cars' suspensions. Any insight/opinons based on experience/help would be appreciated...
06-17-2006, 06:54 AM
#2
I roll on Strano's revalved Bilsteins (revalves up front, 3rd gen HDs in the back), AND I'm lowered 1.5" all around. For daily driving, it works quite well, but I don't hit the interstate much. Even on the interstate, the ride is firm, but very forgiving on your body. They have my recommendation.
06-17-2006, 12:07 PM
#3
Well, I find that folks definition of things like comfort and handling vary greatly....
Me.... I don't at all mind a car that is firm, provided it's firm to be well controlled. I dislike harsh cars, and really hate them if they are harsh and *don't* have very good control. Yes, that happens.... think stock GM shocks.
This car will never be a family truckster in terms of ride. Most find the ride improves with any good shock (note I said good), mostly because they all work better than the stock POS's. The real question I'd have is how well controlled you'd want the body.
HD's are not bad shocks, for stock springs, and for someone who realizes that they don't offer the outright best damping for the car. Not bad, and much better than OE shocks. Actually, they'd have been good OE shocks IMHO. Most float is gone, ride is improved by having less impact harshness, and similar to most anything that's not hugely overdamped. You turn a Koni WAY up with stock springs, or want me to revalve some shocks insanely stiff, it's going to have impact harshness. I don't recommend doing either.
The nice thing about Koni's is you can choose what you want. You aren't stuck. Maybe you want it firmer than you thought. Maybe you want to be a little softer. You can pick you poison. Can't do that with shocks that don't adjust.
Revalves, those are done for control more than ride. But I believe that a car that crashes and bangs is not a particularly good handling car. After all, roads have bumps and dips. So I will firm up the damping from HD's by varying amounts. Some of it depends on what the person relates to me, some on the springs they have, and some on the other parts they have.
Me.... I don't at all mind a car that is firm, provided it's firm to be well controlled. I dislike harsh cars, and really hate them if they are harsh and *don't* have very good control. Yes, that happens.... think stock GM shocks.
This car will never be a family truckster in terms of ride. Most find the ride improves with any good shock (note I said good), mostly because they all work better than the stock POS's. The real question I'd have is how well controlled you'd want the body.
HD's are not bad shocks, for stock springs, and for someone who realizes that they don't offer the outright best damping for the car. Not bad, and much better than OE shocks. Actually, they'd have been good OE shocks IMHO. Most float is gone, ride is improved by having less impact harshness, and similar to most anything that's not hugely overdamped. You turn a Koni WAY up with stock springs, or want me to revalve some shocks insanely stiff, it's going to have impact harshness. I don't recommend doing either.
The nice thing about Koni's is you can choose what you want. You aren't stuck. Maybe you want it firmer than you thought. Maybe you want to be a little softer. You can pick you poison. Can't do that with shocks that don't adjust.
Revalves, those are done for control more than ride. But I believe that a car that crashes and bangs is not a particularly good handling car. After all, roads have bumps and dips.
So I will firm up the damping from HD's by varying amounts. Some of it depends on what the person relates to me, some on the springs they have, and some on the other parts they have.
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Check out our KONI prices, our Master Cylinder Brace, and new Xtracker Hub/wheel bearing upgrade kits!
06-17-2006, 04:38 PM
#4
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I found SLP Bilsteins tolerable in the front but too hard
in the back when I moved to Hotchkiss springs. I went
to Gabriel air shocks and it was a little better, seems to
handle nicely (but I am no racer). Now I'm back to stock
rear springs minus the donuts and kept the Gabriels (I
made a separate-feed air fitting setup that lets me bias
one side more than the other, like a drag-bag, or just
jack it up a little for luggage). The Real Racers are
no doubt (if they're not too busy
) but I've found
these a decent ride and no squirreliness out back. No
data I've ever seen on damping rate or its profile, so
I can't say how they compare to (say) Bilsteins.
in the back when I moved to Hotchkiss springs. I went
to Gabriel air shocks and it was a little better, seems to
handle nicely (but I am no racer). Now I'm back to stock
rear springs minus the donuts and kept the Gabriels (I
made a separate-feed air fitting setup that lets me bias
one side more than the other, like a drag-bag, or just
jack it up a little for luggage). The Real Racers are
no doubt (if they're not too busy
) but I've found these a decent ride and no squirreliness out back. No
data I've ever seen on damping rate or its profile, so
I can't say how they compare to (say) Bilsteins.
